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The German Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt) recently investigated a significant case involving so-called "Acqui-Hires." The Case concerned the transfer of almost all employees of Inflection AI, Inc. to Microsoft Corporation. Although the specific transaction ultimately did not require notification in Germany, the case illustrates that the transfer of highly qualified employees may, under certain conditions, be subject to merger control.

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Unfortunately, it is becoming more and more commonplace for grid operators to receive a large number of grid connection requests from wind and solar projects. This can sometimes lead to waiting periods (of years) before grid operators are able to connect renewable energy plants to the public electricity grid, which in turn results in significant delays in the completion of wind or solar parks. This fact is unknown to some project developers in its current and sometimes extreme form. In the worst case, where a project developer has already made firm commitments such as to supply electricity under a power purchase agreement (PPA), this can trigger severe (penalty) payments. In short, the economic viability of entire projects can be jeopardised by the backlog of connection requests to the grid operator.

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The Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (EU) 2024/1781 ("ESPR") replaced the Ecodesign Directive (2009/125/EC) on July 18, 2024. The ESPR aims to make sustainable products the norm in the EU internal market and to reduce their overall environmental and climate impact. Companies can still register until December 5, 2024 to help shape delegated acts.

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Oppenhoff has advised the German project developer Sunovis on the sale of a 102 MWp solar park in the district of Börde in Saxony-Anhalt. The buyer, the CEE Group, which specialises in renewable energies, is expanding its portfolio in the field of photovoltaics with this transaction.

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On 18 November 2024, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) issued a judgement that makes it easier to prove damages in the form of loss of control in connection with data protection incidents. At least, the BGH considers the amount of damages to be rather low compared to sums frequently claimed. This will influence a large number of current and future claims for damages.

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On 22 November 2024, the EU Commission finally published its long-awaited guidance on the interpretation of the so-called "best efforts" obligation in Art. 8a of Regulation 833/2014. While the guidance contains some helpful information for EU operators, it generally reiterates the already known and established standards of sanctions compliance without clearly addressing the crucial issue of the scope of extraterritorial effects of EU sanctions.

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Oppenhoff has comprehensively advised SnowWorld on the acquisition of the Ski Dome in Bispingen. The Snow Dome Bispingen, located south of Hamburg, is thus the group's second location in Germany, alongside Alpenpark Neuss, and will be renamed SnowWorld Bispingen.

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On 12 November 2024, the Federal Labour Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht - BAG) ruled that the group privilege according to Section 1 (3) No. 2 of the German Temporary Employment Act (Arbeitnehmerüberlassungsgesetz - AÜG) already does not apply - and the provisions of the AÜG therefore do apply - if employees are hired or employed for temporary employment purposes. With this, the BAG interprets the provision beyond the confines of the wording and is once again restricting the flexible deployment of employees within a group environment. Isabel Hexel and Annabelle Marceau explain the implications of this.

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With effect from 1 January 2025, Oppenhoff welcomes Dr. Daniel Dohrn and Marc Alexander Häger to its circle of equity partners. Dr. Carsten Bormann, Mareike Heesing , Dr. Philipp Heinrichs and Maximilian Reichl have been appointed as salary partners.

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Oppenhoff has advised heristo aktiengesellschaft on the acquisition of the business operations of Mar-Ko Fleischwaren GmbH & Co. KG. The business operations are being acquired from a subsidiary of the heristo Group, Westfälische Fleischwarenfabrik Stockmeyer GmbH.

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Oppenhoff has comprehensively advised independent pan-European private equity investor Argos Wityu on the acquisition of a majority stake in Lavatio GmbH. The company is one of the leading German full-service laundry service providers. The objective is to accelerate the company's growth and drive sustainable transformation. Argos Wityu invests together with the management of the company and BNP Paribas.

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The Second Act to Reform the Capital Markets Model Case Act (Kapitalanleger-Musterverfahrensgesetz - KapMuG) came into force on 20 July 2024. The aim of the reform was to streamline and modernise this particular form of model case proceedings, which is intended to make it easier for aggrieved investors to assert their claims against supposedly unassailable opponents on an equal footing.

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At this year's JUVE Awards, Oppenhoff was honoured as "Law Firm of the Year for Succession, Wealth and Foundations" for the second time since 2021.

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Oppenhoff has advised Flossbach von Storch AG on its change of legal form to a Societas Europaea (SE). The change of legal form became effective upon its entry in the Commercial Register on 15 October 2024.

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On 18 October 2024, the German Bundesrat approved the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act (Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz, "BEG IV"). The BEG IV aims to simplify work processes and thus relieve the economy of unnecessary bureaucracy. Once adjustments in the leg-islative process have been made, there will also be considerable simplifications of the formal requirements in employment law. This article initially provides you with an overview of the formal requirements applicable under employment law and then reports on the simplifications provided by the BEG IV.

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The diesel scandal, data leaks and air passenger rights - these are just a few examples that have triggered a wave of individual (consumer) lawsuits against companies. Such lawsuits pose major challenges for companies - they should prepare themselves for the risk and, if the worst comes to the worst, develop a defence strategy at an early stage.

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On 5 September 2024, Hubertus Heil, Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs, presented the draft bill of the German Act on Compliance with Collective Bargaining Agreements (Tariftreuegesetz), which is not particularly surprising. In terms of content, however, the draft raises some concerns, as some of the provi-sions infringe Constitutional and European law. From a company perspective, the key new regulations on the digital access rights of trade unions are noteworthy. If the draft bill passes into law, all companies will be affected. Katharina Schäffer and Jörn Kuhn briefly present the draft.

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Oppenhoff has once again comprehensively advised the EIC Fund on its German investments. On this occasion, the EIC Fund invested in the start-up MindPeak GmbH together with, among others, the German lead investor ZEISS Ventures, Hamburg-based InnoVentureFund, APEX Ventures and AI.Fund.

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In light of the many challenges at present, it remains to be seen whether the legislators can be expected to take any significant action in the field of labour law during the current legislative period. Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil recently presented a draft bill for the long-announced Act on Compliance with Collective Bargaining Agreements (Tariftreuegesetz) in order to stop the decline in collective bargaining coverage. With this Act, he simultaneously wants to grant trade unions a digital access right to companies and restrict the possibilities for evading collective bargaining. However, this draft law is currently becoming a bone of contention for the coalition government. Its implementation therefore remains uncertain.

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We have compiled some important and exciting new developments and case law from IT law and data protection for you. We hope you enjoy reading it!

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Enforcing damage claims in court is often associated with a high financial risk and organisational effort, even for institutional investors and companies, which is why injured parties often refrain from doing so. In such cases, assignment models and litigation funding can be the solution: injured parties can enforce their claims cost-effectively in court - sometimes even without being a party to the proceedings themselves.

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In a landmark judgment, the European Court of Justice (ECJ, C-611/22 P and C-625/22 P) has denied the EU Commission's authority under Article 22 of the European Merger Control Regulation (EUMR) in the Illumina/Grail case. The EU Commission is not entitled to initiate or accept the referral of proposed concentrations that lack a European dimension by national competition authorities if they are not responsible under national law for reviewing these transactions.

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Oppenhoff has appointed Franziska Katterbach as a new partner in its Life Sciences/ M&A department at the Frankfurt office as of 1 October 2024. Previously, she built up the European business as Managing Director at Khiron Life Sciences, a manufacturer and distributor of medical cannabis and operator of clinics.

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Oppenhoff has advised the Saint-Gobain Group on the sale of the automotive supplier FREEGLASS GmbH & Co. KG to Hannover Finanz as part of a carve-out.

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Oppenhoff has once again comprehensively advised the EIC Fund on its German investments. This time, the EIC Fund invested in the Munich-based start-up Reverion GmbH together with, among others, the US-based lead investor Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and Honda Motor.

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